Gent-Wevelgem 2020 [FULL RACE]

October 11, 2020

Gent-Wevelgem 2020 – Ypres – Wevelgem : 232,5 km

Initially billed as one half of a ‘Weekend of the Low Countries’ double-header along with the Amstel Gold Race, Gent-Wevelgem will instead be the sole focus for Classics specialists following the cancellation of the Dutch race as a result of COVID-related restrictions. The organisers of the Belgian race have also had to adapt to the ongoing health crisis, removing the sections of the route that went into France, which has resulted in it being shortened to 238km, a dozen fewer than last year. The race has, however, retained its fundamental feature, the iconic climb of the Kemmelberg, as well as the Plugstreets gravel sections that were introduced for the first time in 2018.

Trek-Segafredo’s Mads Pedersen won a scintillating 82nd edition of Gent-Wevelgem, bridging up to Alberto Bettiol (EF Education First), Matteo Trentin (Team CCC) and Florian Sénéchal (Deceuninck-QuickStep) inside the final kilometre, then powering past his three rivals to take the title, the first major Classics success of his career.

Sénéchal came through to take second, with Trentin third, the four leaders finishing just ahead of a five-strong group that contained pre-race favourites Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix).

“Three guys went from the group and I hoped that Van der Poel and Van Aert would close it,” Pedersen said of the frantic finale to a race of non-stop action during its second half.

“I managed to jump across and to stay in the last wheel and do my sprint from there. It was the perfect situation for me.”

The Dane always tends to thrive in inclement conditions and he admitted he’d enjoyed the showery weather.

“It was pretty hard with conditions like this. It’s raining, it’s drying up, it’s raining and drying up, so you’re getting cold and warm. But I know how to handle it, so it’s ok for me. The weather conditions were good for me,” he added.

How it unfolded

The race began under the Menin Gate First World War memorial in Ypres, the riders rolling away to tackle a 232km course of two halves, the first flat and exposed, the second featuring three gravel sections and 11 climbs, including three of the iconic cobbled ascent of the Kemmelberg.

The action began soon after the official start had been given, seven riders jumping away from the bunch to form the break of the day: Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r La Mondiale), Alexander Konychev (Mitchelton-Scott), Leonardo Basso (Ineos Grenadiers), Julien Morice (B&B Hotels), Kenny Molly (Bingoal), Gilles De Wilde (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) and, in a surprising move, Bahrain McLaren sprinter Mark Cavendish.

These seven riders pushed their advantage out to eight minutes, at which point van Aert’s Jumbo-Visma team began to set a faster pace on the front of the bunch. Under the Dutch team’s impetus, the break’s lead was cut to less than two minutes coming onto the first of the race’s 11 climbs, the Scherpenberg.

The whittling process continued over the next four climbs, the last of them the Kemmelberg. Beyond this key ascent, its cobbles slickened by the rain, the peloton split into three pieces, Van Aert pressing hard at the front of the first section. Van der Poel was quick to respond to his rival’s acceleration, the Dutchman’s effort so strong that only half a dozen riders initially managed to track him, Van Aert not initially among them, although he soon bridged up.

Passing through the three gravel sections set in between climbs five and six, this group continued to close the gap on the break. With 66km remaining, the two groups joined, the junction producing a lead pack of 26 riders.

Soon after, nine riders clipped away off the front: Sep Vanmarcke (EF Education First), Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r La Mondiale), Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma), Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Fenix), Florian Vermeersch (Lotto-Soudal), plus Pedersen and Trentin. They pushed their lead out to almost a minute as they came onto the second climb of the Kemmelberg.

Here, Van Aert and Van der Poel attacked, their acceleration cutting the break’s advantage in half and splitting the chase group. John Degenkolb (Lotto-Soudal), Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida), Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Bettiol and Sénéchal were with them, with Asgreen’s teammate Yves Lampaert the last to join the party.

The final time up the Kemmelberg, Trentin and Küng rode clear of the lead group, while van Aert and van der Poel were the main drivers in the second. After Küng had briefly gone clear on his own, a lead group formed that featured the Swiss, Deceuninck’s Asgreen, Lampaert and Sénéchal, Lotto’s Degenkolb and Vermeersch, EF’s Bettiol and Vanmarcke, Jumbo’s Van Aert and Teunissen, plus Teuns, Trentin, Rowe, Pedersen and Van der Poel.

A flurry of attacks on the flat roads running towards the finish left Lampaert, Küng, Bettiol, Van der Poel, Degenkolb, Van Aert, Pedersen, Sénéchal and Trentin in contention for victory at the front. Knowing he would have little chance in a sprint, Küng accelerated with 6.5km, Van Aert reeling him in. Bettiol and Lampaert then tried to jump clear, their effort also nullified. The next to try was Van Aert, his solo effort chased down by Van der Poel.

The action continued in the same vein. Once one attack was brought back, another went immediately in a frantic few kilometres. But no one managed to break the elastic and with 2.5km left to ride the nine contenders were still grouped together. At this point Küng made one final attempt to escape the specialist sprinters around him.

Once again the Groupama-FDJ rider was thwarted, and as he was reeled in Trentin, Bettiol and Sénéchal burst clear, Pedersen chasing hard for several hundred metres to join the trio. Bettiol opened up the sprint, but it was Pedersen who charged through to win it, claiming his first one-day success since the World ChampionshipS in Yorkshire last year.

Results :
1 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 5:19:20
2 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep
3 Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team
4 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Pro Cycling 0:00:01
5 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:03
6 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:00:04
7 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
8 Wout van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:07
9 Mathieu Van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:08
10 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain McLaren 0:01:40
11 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:01:56
12 Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
13 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal
14 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale 0:02:04
15 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Bora-Hansgrohe
16 Johan Jacobs (Swi) Movistar Team 0:02:06
17 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Pro Cycling
18 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:13
19 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:02
20 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Circus – Wanty Gobert
21 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb
22 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R la Mondiale
23 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
24 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
25 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis
26 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
27 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
28 Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
29 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
30 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
31 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
32 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team
33 Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal
34 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
35 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama – Fdj
36 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team
37 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
38 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
39 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
40 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis
41 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-Quickstep
42 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:06
43 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling 0:03:07
44 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Pro Cycling 0:03:09
45 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
46 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:03:15
47 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) UAE Team Emirates
48 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:06:11
49 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
50 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
51 Ivan Garcia Cortina (Spa) Bahrain McLaren
52 Nils Politt (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
53 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team
54 Taco Van der Hoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
55 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis
56 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
57 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling
58 Julien Vermote (Bel) Cofidis
59 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
60 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
61 Samuele Battistella (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
62 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
63 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
64 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
65 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott
66 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) CCC Team
67 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
68 Michael Schär (Swi) CCC Team
69 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix
70 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Movistar Team
71 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
72 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
73 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie
74 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
75 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
76 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
77 Aksel Nõmmela (Est) Bingoal WB
78 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
79 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
80 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
81 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team
82 Kenny Molly (Bel) Bingoal WB
83 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
84 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
85 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Total Direct Energie
86 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
87 Julien Morice (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
88 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) Total Direct Energie
89 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
90 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
91 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) EF Pro Cycling
92 Michael Gogl (Aut) NTT Pro Cycling
93 Michael Valgren (Den) NTT Pro Cycling
94 Julius Van den Berg (Ned) EF Pro Cycling
95 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
DNF Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
DNF Jonas Castrique (Bel) Bingoal Wb
DNF Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Sean De Bie (Bel) Bingoal WB
DNF Owain Doull (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain McLaren
DNF Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Bingoal WB
DNF Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
DNF Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
DNF Davide Martinelli (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
DNF Tom Bohli (Swi) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep
DNF Gilles De Wilde (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Cedric Beullens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal WB
DNF Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert
DNF Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
DNF Christian Knees (Ger) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert
DNF Timothy Dupont (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
DNF Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal
DNF Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
DNF Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
DNF Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain McLaren
DNF Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
DNF Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
DNF Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Travis McCabe (USA) Israel Start-Up Nation
DNF Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
DNF Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
DNF Jonas Rutsch (Ger) EF Pro Cycling
DNF Mark Donovan (GBr) Team Sunweb
DNF Max Kanter (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNF Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team Sunweb
DNF Sasha Weemaes (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNF Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
DNF Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Senne Leysen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
DNF Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
DNF Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team
DNF Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Barnabás Peák (Hun) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
DNF Kaden Groves (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis
DNF Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis
DNF Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
DNF Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Pro Cycling
DNF Iñigo Elosegui Momeñe (Spa) Movistar Team
DNS Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
DNS Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ